PPP Member of Parliament James Bond defended murder charges against three MV Barima crew members on Thursday, pushing back against an irate crowd that heckled him and other officials leaving a Model Village consultation.
Bond told the crowd the accused have legal recourse if they disagree with the decision to charge them.
“The police have done their investigations and sent the file to the DPP and that is how she charged. If we disagree with whatever decision a administrative or judicial person would have made, there is recourse in the law. The lawyer could file for grounds of judicial review of the DPP’s decision,” he said.
The men charged are Captain Kevin Price, 40, called “KP”, of Melanie Damishana, East Coast Demerara; Chief Mate Rondell Dwayne Roberts, 42, of Meadow Grove Public Road, East Bank Demerara; and Goods Superintendent Delon Granderson, 33, of Fellowship, West Coast Demerara.
The vessel, which was carrying 179 passengers, sank on July 18.
The protest was held on the sidelines of President Dr Irfaan Ali’s public consultation to advance his Model Village Initiative at the Melanie Nursery School, East Coast Demerara, amid growing calls for the resignation of Public Works Minister Bishop Juan Edghill and Public Utilities and Aviation Minister Deodat Indar, following the MV Barima tragedy, which has claimed 73 lives, with 30 people still missing.
Residents are calling for full accountability for the disaster, stressing that the three crew members charged with murder were unjustly accused and should be released.
“The problem is that the captain of the boat living in this district. And for the people of this district, they feel that it wasn’t right to charge them, lock him up. And then the thing is they charge him for murder. Nobody can’t come out clearly to the public, the country and give an assessment of what happened,” resident Victor Benjamin said.
The Government has maintained that the independent international Commission of Inquiry (CoI) established to examine the disaster will determine its causes and recommend reforms to prevent a recurrence.
Director of Public Prosecutions Shalimar Ali-Hack has said the CoI’s work will not affect the murder charges already instituted, noting that both processes can proceed simultaneously.
